CHICAGO — In a “strange coincidence,” Khalil Mack was watching the TV show “Bel-Air” with his fiancée and son when he received a call from his agent telling him the Chicago Bears were trading him to the Los Angeles Chargers for 2022 second-round and 2023 sixth-round draft picks.
After four seasons in Chicago, Mack was being sent to Southern California to reunite with Chargers coach Brandon Staley.
The teams finalized the trade Wednesday, and Mack told the story to Los Angeles reporters soon after.
Staley was Mack’s outside linebackers coach with the Bears in 2018 before Staley followed Vic Fangio to the Denver Broncos and then got the Chargers job.
Mack remembered his first impression of Staley after the Bears acquired Mack from the Oakland Raiders in 2018. Staley poured in hours to help Mack get ready for the season opener against the Green Bay Packers in a matter of days, and Mack had one of the best games of his Bears career.
That was the start of a solid relationship that Mack sounded happy to continue.
“It was weird to hear (about the trade), but understanding the team and the coach, having a relationship with Coach Staley and knowing his mindset and his passion for the game, I went from bittersweet to kind of excited, knowing who I’m dealing with and knowing the type of man he is first and foremost and how much he truly loves football,” Mack said. “You can feel it whenever you speak to him. Not just understanding the football aspect, but the man and the relationship that we have, what we were able to do while we were together, I got excited.”
Mack said common sense told him that there might be a chance Poles — with no connection to former GM Ryan Pace’s trade that brought Mack to Chicago — might part with him.
He still spoke highly of his four years in Chicago, when he racked up 36 sacks, 52 quarterback hits and 14 forced fumbles in 53 games. He was named to the Pro Bowl three times and was an All-Pro in his first season with the Bears.
“Especially that first year there, having all the pieces and all the coaching staff together, having the players, Kyle Fuller to Prince (Amukamara) to Eddie (Jackson) to (Adrian) Amos to Akiem (Hicks) to Eddie Goldman to Leonard Floyd and Danny Trevathan, Roquan (Smith), I could go on and on,” Mack said. “Knowing what that felt like out there playing with those guys, it was a special time, special moment in my life. And those were four years I’ll never forget, and I thank that organization for taking a chance on me.
“And it’s no different here, with this organization, taking another chance, understanding what I’m dealing with but also knowing what I’m capable of, and it’s going to be fun.”
Mack’s introduction to Los Angeles was similar to his in Chicago in that he said he preferred actions to words when it came to proving himself after two injury-plagued seasons to end his time with the Bears. He played in only seven games in 2021 before going on injured reserve because of season-ending left foot surgery.
He told a reporter who asked about his foot that it was “100 percent, good to go, whatever you want to hear.”
“New team or not, understanding what the narrative is about me right now, I can’t wait,” Mack said. “I’m not a talker, so I would rather show you.
“You turn on the TV, you hear what they’re saying, it’s like, ‘OK, but I’d bet on myself any day.’ ”
